Prince Helps Bring Authentic Wimbledon Experience to New York City

NEW YORK, NY — Prince, a partner of the All England Tennis Club and official global licensee of the Wimbledon® brand of tennis racquets and sports bags is helping to give fans a taste of all the tournament has to offer. Starting Monday, June 22, the global tennis equipment leader will take part in the “HSBC presents Wimbledon 2009 at Rockefeller Center” which will feature a week of complimentary activities and events, including live daily screenings of matches and free tennis for the public on Manhattan’s only grass court.

All week, players will have the chance to take to the grass court with any of the new racquets from Prince’s groundbreaking EXO3 line. For those looking for a little more instruction, certified Prince tennis professionals will host free on-court clinics during designated times (June 23 & 24 from 11:30am- 1:00pm and 5:30- 7:00pm, and on June 25 & 26 from 1:00-2:30pm and 4:00- 5:30pm) to those in attendance. Regardless of skill level, the Prince teaching pro will provide an authentic on-court Wimbledon experience.

“We are extremely proud to be a part of the effort to bring the Wimbledon experience to New York City. The opportunity to provide the general public with a sense of what it feels like to not only attend one of the world’s most premier sporting events but actually play in it is very unique,” said Linda Glassel, Vice President of Marketing at Prince Sports, Inc. “Whether you are an advanced-level competitor or a beginner, the chance to get out on a grass court with one of our new Prince racquets in the middle of Rockefeller Center is a once in a lifetime experience.”

PRINCE WIMBLEDON BALL GUESS CONTEST

In addition to taking to the grass court in Rockefeller Center, Prince is giving those who are on-site, as well as those unable to attend, the chance to come away a winner. In addition to other on site activities such as Wii Tennis, live match screenings and complimentary strawberries and cream, Prince will be giving fans both in Rockefeller Center, and on-line, the chance to guess the number Prince tennis balls housed in a larger-than-life container. The container will remain on display at Rockefeller Center throughout the event where passersby can fill out a form to submit their guess. For those not in attendance, a high resolution photograph of the same container, with its dimensions, will also be featured online at www.princetennis.com throughout Wimbledon. By simply logging on to the Prince homepage, consumers around the country, can submit a guess for a chance to win. The person closest to guessing the exact number of tennis balls in the container, without going over, will receive a special Prince prize package including a new EXO3 racquet, premium racquet bag and an autographed racquet from 2004 Wimbledon Champion, Maria Sharapova.

Prince will promote its Wimbledon Ball Guess contest through its corporate website as well as by reaching out to consumers via its Official Prince Tennis Facebook page and recently launched Prince Twitter page.

Said Glassel, “While fans will certainly get two weeks of thrilling Wimbledon match play from Prince ATP and WTA touring pros, we wanted to also provide an engaging interactive offer that would help to make the 2009 Championships even more exciting. The promotion could not be easier - simply log on and guess. The unique aspect is the fact that we have taken what is typically an offline promotion and made it available to players and fans online.”